PAN cards, Aadhaar now mandatory for investment in PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, NSC, other schemes from this fiscal

The Finance Ministry has made PAN and Aadhaar numbers mandatory for investors opting to invest in post office schemes such as Public Provident Fund (PPF), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Sukanya Samirddhi Yojana (SSY), Mahila Saman Scheme, and others. 

In a notification, the ministry said these changes have been notified as part of Know Your Customer (KYC) details for small saving schemes backed by the government. Before this, investments in small saving schemes were allowed without the submission of one's Aadhaar number.  

The Finance Ministry said that investors have to submit at least the Aadhaar enrolment number for making any investment and furnish the PAN card on investment above a certain threshold. 

In case, the Aadhaar number is not available for a certain investor while opening an account in post office schemes or while enrolling for a scheme, he has to furnish the proof of enrollment slip for the Aadhaar number.  

Then, the investor will be required to provide the Aadhaar number within six months from the date of opening of the account number to link it with the small savings scheme investment. If the investor fails to furnish the Aadhaar number within six months, then the investment will be frozen till the time the Aadhaar number is submitted to the designated post office. 

From now on, the following documents will be required to invest in small savings schemes.  

A recent passport-size photograph 

Aadhaar number or Aadhaar enrollment slip 

PAN 

For existing subscribers, the account will be frozen from October 1, 2023, if they fail to furnish their Aadhaar number with their small savings account within the given deadline. 

PAN card submission 

The Finance Ministry notification noted that the PAN details have to be submitted at the time of small savings account opening. In case, the PAN is not submitted at the time of account opening, it must be submitted within two months of account opening. 

The notification said PAN is mandatory, if:  

1] The account balance at any point in time exceeds Rs 50,000; or 

2] The aggregate of all credits in the account in any financial year exceeds Rs 1 lakh. 

3] The aggregate of all withdrawals and transfers in a month from the account exceeds ten thousand rupees. 

"In the event of failure of the depositor to submit the Permanent Account Number (PAN) within the specified period of two months, his account shall cease to be operational till the time he submits the Permanent Account Number to the Accounts Office," the notification noted. 

The post office or bank, where the investment is made, can ask for further documents needed at the time of investment states the notification.  

Earlier, if an investor did not have PAN or Aadhaar details at the time of investing, then he/she was allowed to submit other officially valid documents, like utility bills of any service provider. This could be water, electricity, or telephone bills, but not more than two months old.  

Other documents that were accepted as proofs were municipal tax receipts, property tax receipts, pension or family pension orders issued to retired government employees etc. containing the present address. 

On March 31, the Centre on Friday hiked the interest rates of small savings schemes by up to 70 bps for the April-June 2023 quarter. In a notification issued on Friday, the finance ministry said that the interest rates of schemes like the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Monthly Income Savings Scheme, National Savings Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra, and Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme have been revised. Only the interest rates on the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Post Office Savings Account have been kept unchanged. 

Savings Scheme	Interest rate Apr-June
Post Office Savings Account	4%
Post Office Recurring Deposit	6.2%
Post Office Monthly Income Scheme	7.4%
Post Office Time Deposit (1 year)	6.8%
Post Office Time Deposit (2 years)	6.9%
Post Office Time Deposit (3 years)	7.0%
Post Office Time Deposit (5 years)	7.5%
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)	7.5% (115 months)
Public Provident Fund (PPF)	7.1%
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana	8.0%
National Savings Certificate	7.7%
Senior Citizens’ Saving Scheme (SCSS)	8.2%

Also read: Small savings schemes' interest rates: Centre raises interest rates by up to 70 bps for April-June 2023 quarter, PPF rates unchanged

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